This past Saturday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) went to the Auto Club Speedway in Sunny Southern California for the final leg of the West Coast Swing. The Swing, which started off two weeks prior at the high banked intermediate track in Las Vegas, ended with a track very similar in shape and size.

Heading into the weekend, Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 4 EZ Angus Ranch/RM Parks Inc. Chevrolet, had his hopes held high knowing that his car would have some good speed after coming home with a great Top 10 run in Las Vegas. He just missed out on making the second round in Qualifying, and ended up starting in the 15th position.

From that point on, his race was plagued with bad luck, starting off with a tire that nearly disintegrated at the end of Stage 1. He would be put two laps down to the leader, and eventually lost another lap under green during Stage 2. Veteran Crew Chief Paul Clapprood made a risky call at the beginning of Stage 3 to stay out for a wave-around, but due to the track’s abrasive nature, Ross was forced to come back down pit road under green for four new Goodyear Eagles.

Chastain ended up rallying back through the field, finishing the day off with a frustrating, yet respectable 18th place finish. He slides back a couple of positions in the points standings to 13th, just eight points below the Playoff cutoff.

Garrett Smithley, driver of the No. 0 Cal Fire Benevolent Foundation Camaro SS, ended up having just the type of day the team needed, running calmly within the Top 20 for the bulk of the afternoon after qualifying in 25th position.

Smithley, who’s father RK piloted the fly over plane for pre-race festivities, quickly made his way up through the field and made it known that he stayed there due to his consistently quick lap times. At the end of the day, Garrett was able to bring his Chevrolet home without a scratch (which in itself is a tough fought accomplishment at California) in the 19th position. He currently sits in 18th position in the standings, 58 points behind the cutoff.

Stephen Leicht, driver of the No. 01 “In Memory of Hippie” Chevrolet, came into the weekend hoping to turn his bad luck and misfortunes around. After having his best run of the season by far last week in Phoenix end up in smoke, the 01 crew came back fighting strong in Fontana.

Despite starting deep in the field in 29th, Stephen was able to scratch and claw his way through the field up to the Top 20 with the help of longtime Spotter Mike Herman and Crew Chief Mark Setzer. Cars with fresher tires were able to get around Leicht late in the running, but he was still able to bring home a respectable 22nd place finish, his best of the year. He jumps up three spots in points to 28th, not far behind the Top 25.

Finally, making his 100th career NXS start this past weekend was Florida native BJ McLeod, who drives the No. 15 Camaro SS. McLeod had a relatively nonchalant type of day, laying low near the 20th-25th positions all race. Like Chastain, BJ also had a tire go down near the end of Stage 1, which forced him to come down the pit road and lose a couple of laps. However, he was able to keep his car clean for the remainder of the race, and came home with a 24th place finish, making that his fourth Top 25 in a row. He sits in 21st in the season standings.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series has an off week this weekend, but will resume in two weeks’ time at the newly reconfigured Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 30th. Fans can tune into FOX Sports 1 for live TV coverage at 1:00 PM Eastern Time or listen live on the radio with the Performance Racing Network. For all things JD Motorsports, be sure to follow along on social media with the username @JDMotorsports01 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. #TeamJDM

The California Kid, Cole Custer returned home to win his third career NASCAR Xfinity Series race and his first win at his home track in Fontana, CA. Custer led the last 19 laps of the Performance Alliance Group 300, to edge out the competition, taking the checkered flag and marking the 60th overall win for Stewart-Haas Racing.

“Congratulations Cole, Tony, and Gene,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Cole showed great determination and patience throughout the race and we are proud to be part of SHR’s {Stewart-Haas Racing} milestone 60th win.”

“This means a ton,” Custer commented in Victory Lane. “To win here, at home in Southern California - I grew up racing in San Bernardino and Irwindale. It means a ton. I am pretty pumped up.”

The No. 00 grabbed the lead from Christopher Bell on Lap 132 of 150 and gradually pulled away to beat Kyle Busch to the finish line by 1.927 seconds. Custer led four times for a total of 29 laps out of the 150-lap race.

The No. 67 Ford GT, driven by Richard Westbrook, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon, led the majority of the IMSA 12 Hour of Sebring race, on Saturday. After a late race incident, in the last five minutes of the race, dropped the No. 67 out of contention for the win to finish P6.

In turn, the No. 66 Ford GT with drivers Joey Hand, Dirk Müller and Sébastien Bourdais, continued pushing, working their way up to a second-place finish.

The FIA WEC No. 67 Ford GT scored a third-place finish in the 1000 Miles of Sebring Friday night at the historic track, with drivers Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito.

NASCAR heads to the first short track of the season for the MENCS this weekend in Martinsville, VA. In addition, IMSA will head to Long Beach, CA in April. Reference the full 2019 schedule on www.roushyates.com.

● After taking the lead on the opening lap, Busch battled with polesitter Tyler Reddick for the next 10 laps.

● Busch regained the lead on lap 12 and held the position through the end of Stage 1.

● Busch reported that his No. 18 iK9 Toyota Supra was loose on entry. He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment at the conclusion of the stage.

● With quick work from the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew, Busch held onto the lead as the first car off pit road.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 36-70):

● Started first and finished first.

● Busch led all 35 laps of the second stage, which saw no cautions until the stage break on lap 70.

● Still experienced a “loose-on-entry” handling condition and reported that his iK9 Toyota Supra was getting tight on exit on a long run.

● After claiming his second stage win of the race, Busch pitted under caution for four tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 71-150):

● Started first and finished second.

● Busch led the field back to green on lap 78, continuing his dominant run until the third caution of the race on lap 85.

● Happy with the handling of his iK9 Toyota Supra, crew chief Ben Beshore brought Busch to pit road for four tires and fuel under the caution. Busch was the first car off pit road. However, with one competitor staying on track, Busch restarted in the second position on lap 89.

● After another exciting battle for the lead, Busch was again in the lead on lap 94. He remained in control for the next 21 laps until the fourth caution of the day on lap 112.

● Pitting for four tires and fuel on lap 114, trouble with the right-rear tire slowed the No. 18 team’s pit stop. The team was also served with an uncontrolled tire penalty, relegating Busch to 13th for the lap-118 restart.

● Busch showed just how strong the iK9 Toyota Supra was, re-entering the top-five in just seven laps.

● Needing “a bit more air pressure” to get through traffic, Busch pitted for the final time under caution on lap 126. Though he gained one spot to exit pit road in fourth place, two other drivers did not pit, forcing Busch to restart in sixth.

● After going back to green with 20 laps to go, Busch worked his way into second place on lap 136 after overtaking his JGR teammate, Christopher Bell.

● Busch was unable to catch the leader over the final 14 laps and ultimately crossed the finish line in second, earning his third straight top-two result.

Notes:

● This was Busch’s third consecutive top-two Xfinity Series finish, following his back-to-back wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway near Phoenix.

● This was Busch’s 13th top-five finish and 16th top-10 finish in 19 career Xfinity Series starts at Auto Club Speedway.

● The runner-up finish was Busch’s ninth consecutive top-10 Xfinity Series result at Auto Club Speedway.

● Busch led four times for a race-high 98 laps.

● The No. 18 iK9 team is first in the owners’ championship with 236 points, 16 ahead of the No. 2 team of Richard Childress Racing.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 28 laps.

● Only 16 of the 37 drivers in the Production Alliance Group 300 finished on the lead lap.

“I just wasn’t fast enough at the end there. Cole (Custer) was really good and really fast and had a good car. They got better throughout the day and got closer to our rear bumper there on that second-to-last run before we had our pit road problems and dropped us back in the pack. Obviously, we were able to rebound, but when you have a fast guy out front and a fast guy in second, they run the same times and they stay the same distance apart. We just weren’t quick enough there at the end to chase them down. Hate it for all the iK9 Toyota Supra guys and everybody that supports this program.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the My Bariatric Solutions 300 on Saturday, March 30 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.

-Nemechek is currently 10th in the driver point standings, four points behind Ryan Sieg in ninth place.

"Today just wasn't our day. A loose wheel put us a lap down in Stage 2 and then a little miscommunication between spotter and myself resulted in our day ending early. We will regroup, keep our heads up and move on to Texas."

Tyler Reddick Overcomes Mid-Race Flat Tire to Collect Third Top-Five Finish This Year

4th

1st

1st

"We had another really solid No. 2 Hurdl Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. My team worked so hard on this Camaro, from putting in the work back at the shop to fixing it up after I scraped the wall in practice. I'm really proud of us for completing the weekend sweep for RCR with pole awards in both series. That was a nice 'thank you' that I could give them for the effort they've put in these past couple of weeks. We had to fight for our third top-five finish of the year today. I started off a little too loose but built tight eventually as the race went on. We had a flat right rear tire midway through the final stage after I brushed the wall, causing us to pit off sequence and go a lap down. We got lucky when a caution came out soon after, which allowed us to take the wave around and get our lap back. We had a great car and were able to get back into the top five, but I hate that we weren't able to really get back up to the front and fight for the win. This one should have been ours. We were so close. I'm looking forward to Texas and getting back at it still as the points leader."

Thanks to Cole Custer, Kyle Busch will have to wait at least one more day.

With a determined run to the finish in Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway, Custer kept Busch at bay after a restart with 20 laps left and thwarted Busch’s march toward 200 victories across NASCAR’s top three national series.

In winning for the third time in his career and the first time at his home track, the Ladera Ranch, Calif., native grabbed the lead from Christopher Bell on Lap 132 of 150 and pulled away to beat Busch to the finish by 1.927 seconds, after Busch passed Bell for second on Lap 136.

For his part, Busch fell one spot short of win No. 200 after a self-inflicted wound by his pit crew sent the No. 18 Toyota to the back of the field for a restart on Lap 118. Four circuits earlier, under caution, a problem with the jack on the left side of the car cost Busch 10 spots on pit road.

But the coup de grace was a penalty for an uncontrolled tire that forced him to restart at the tail end of the field and gave Custer a chance out front in clean air.

“It means a ton,” said the 21-year-old Custer. “As great a driver as Kyle Busch is, he’s going to be one of the legends of our sport. To keep him one race more from getting 200 means a lot. I’m sure he’s a little bit frustrated, but we have a great time racing him.”

Once Custer passed Bell for the lead, his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford took off.

“We had a pretty good car all day,” said Custer, who led four times for a total of 29 laps. “It was just a matter of getting out front. We got our car to turn a little better, and that was kind of the difference.”

After restarting sixth on Lap 131, Busch, who won the first two stages and led 98 laps, couldn’t match Custer’s speed over the last 20 circuits.

“Lack of grip there at the end," said Busch, who will have his next shot at his 200th win in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). "We just didn't have the speed we needed with the No. 00.

“Earlier in the day we were two tenths (of a second) better than some of the guys, and there at the end, we weren't. It is what it is, I guess… Our Supra was fast, just not enough at the end. At the end there, he (Custer) was really good and really fast and had a good car. They got better throughout the day and got closer to our rear bumper there on that second-to-last run before we had our pit road problems and dropped us back in the pack.

"Obviously, we were able to rebound, but when you have a fast guy out front and a fast guy in second, they run the same times, and they stay the same distance apart. We just weren’t quick enough there at the end to chase them down."

Bell held third despite fighting handling issues throughout the afternoon. Polesitter Tyler Reddick recovered from several brushes with the outside wall to run fourth. Chase Briscoe was fifth in the No. 98 Ford.

Austin Cindric, Brandon Jones and Ryan Preece all recovered from spins to come home sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

Asked how he planned to celebrate the victory, Custer had a ready reply.

Cole Custer celebrated in victory lane on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in the No. 00 Thompson Pipe / Haas CNC Ford. Custer, the third-place starter in the 300-mile event, led the field for 29 circuits to score his third career NASCAR XFINITY Series win.

Custer passed race leader Christopher Bell with 19 laps remaining and never looked back. Bell was later passed by Kyle Busch for the second spot and went on to a third-place finish. The driver of the No. 00 Ford saw the lead four times throughout the event.

Kyle Busch finished runner-up in Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300. Busch, who started in second and entered the afternoon looking for national series win No. 200, led 98 of the 150 laps. However, late-race miscues on pit road that included a slow pit stop and an uncontrolled tire penalty, relegated the race dominator to the 13th position for the restart.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran, who won both stages of the event, worked his way through the field quickly. However, Custer, eventual race winner, was no match for the No. 18 Toyota.

Christopher Bell rounded out the top three finishers on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota, who started fourth on the leaderboard, leaves the 2.0-mile oval with his second top five and third top 10 finish this year.

The first two stages at Auto Club Speedway went clean and green. The first on-track incident occurred on lap 83 when John Hunter Nemechek had a miscommunication and went across the nose of the No. 39 Chevrolet of Ryan Sieg. Nemechek spun into the inside retaining wall separating the track and pit road and was done for the day as a result. Nemechek finished 28th while Sieg continued to finish 11th.

On lap 110, with 40 laps to go, Austin Cindric brought out the yellow flag in turn four. Despite the incident, Cindric continued his way in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford to finish sixth.

Not long after going green, Brandon Jones brought out the fifth and final yellow flag of the day in turn three. Jones, in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, went on to a seventh-place finish.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series will take a weekend off and return at Texas Motor Speedway on March 30th. The My Bariatric Solutions 300 will take place at 1:00 p.m. ET. live on FS1 and PRN Radio.

]]>noreplyemail@speedwaydigest.com (Steven B. Wilson)Xfinity Series NewsSat, 16 Mar 2019 15:12:46 -0400JD Motorsports Has Up & Down Day In Phoenix: Ends Up With Three Top 25 Finisheshttps://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/xfinity-series-news/48789-jd-motorsports-has-up-down-day-in-phoenix-ends-up-with-three-top-25-finishes
https://speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/xfinity-series-news/48789-jd-motorsports-has-up-down-day-in-phoenix-ends-up-with-three-top-25-finishes

This past weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) headed back out west to ISM Raceway for the running of the iK9 Service Dog 300. The 1 mile, newly reconfigured, relatively high-speed track just outside Phoenix proved to be a race of attrition.

Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 4 EZ Angus Ranch/RM Parks Inc. Chevrolet Camaro SS, started the day off with a 16th place run in Qualifying. For the majority of the race, he positioned himself within the Top 15 positions, occasionally breaking into the Top 10 at some points in the race. It was an “under the radar” type of day for the No. 4 team, solid nonetheless. At the end of the day, Ross came home with a respectable 17th place finish. He currently sits comfortably in the 11th spot in the points standings.

BJ McLeod, driver of the No. 15 Camaro SS, started in the 25th position, and raced consistently in the Top 25 for most of the afternoon. On the last pit stop, veteran crew chief Wayne Carroll made a chassis adjustment that helped McLeod pick up some spots late in the race. At the end of the day, the No. 15 crew came home with a solid 21st place finish, helping McLeod jump to 21st in the season standings.

Garrett Smithley, driver of the No. 0 Camaro SS, picked up the most positions out of the JD Motorsports crew after starting from the 28th position. Smithley ran a mostly conservative campaign, running around the 25th spot for the bulk of the race. However, when it came to the last stage, he was able to position himself near the Top 20, ultimately coming home with a 22nd place finish. This was Smithley’s fourth Top 25 result of the season, and he currently sits 17th in the season standings.

Unfortunately, the of bad luck for Stephen Leicht didn’t come to an end in the desert. Leicht, driver of the No. 01 Camaro SS, was having his best run of the season by a considerable margin early on. He managed to stay on the lead lap for the most part of the race, sitting comfortably in the 19th position, until his engine grenaded on lap 129. The freak accident was enough to take himself out of the race, finishing in the 31st position. He currently sits in the 31st position in points as well, and certainly wants to turn his luck around next weekend in Fontana.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Sunny Southern California with the running of the Production Alliance Group 300 at the Auto Club Speedway on Saturday, March 16th. This will be the third and final leg of the West Coast Swing, so be sure to tune in to FOX Sports 1 to watch live coverage at 5:00 PM Eastern Time (2:00 PM local).